Slipknot ahead of the Game

'Gone' edges out 'LAX' for top spot on charts

After declaring the Game’s “LAX” (Geffen) the week’s top-seller, Nielsen SoundScan went back to its data, recalculated the numbers and awarded the gold to Slipknot’s “All Hope Is Gone” (Roadrunner).

In the initial report, “LAX” outsold “All Hope Is Gone” by a mere 13 copies, but after the recalibration, Slipknot had bested the Game by 1,134 units. Final numbers for the week ended Sunday: “All Hope Is Gone,” 240,000; “LAX,” 238,000.

The glitch occurred when one retail report was not included in the initial count.

It is the first No. 1 for the masked alternative metal act. Slipknot’s “Vol. 3 Subliminal Verses” hit No. 2 in 2004.

The Game’s last two albums, 2006’s “Doctor’s Advocate” and 2005’s “The Documentary,” hit No. 1 in their first weeks.

A number of retailers got a bit antsy as 11 debuts in the top 50 registered sales prior to their release date of Aug. 26. Pre-release sales ranged from 900 for Slipknot down to eight for Jimmy Wayne’s “Do You Believe Me Now.”

After the top two, the highest-charting disc was the Universal Music compilation “Now That’s What I Call Country,” which sold 50,000 copies. “Sol-angel and the Hadley Street Dreams” (Geffen), the second album from Solange Knowles, sold 46,000 copies to open at No. 9. Solange’s album benefited from a lower-than-usual list price, selling for $7.99 at iTunes and $6.99 at Amazon.com.